Guest column: Interacting with child is greatest gift

The brain undergoes dramatic changes from conception through early childhood, changes that underlie the rapid acquisition of sensory, motor and cognitive skills observed in young children, changes that will never fail to astound parents. A child’s brain is an incredible engine, diligently working, constantly adapting to interpret the world. We should consider its care of utmost importance.

Good brain function has basic requirements. Like all cells, neurons (which are brain cells) need proper nutrients to grow and work properly. The points of communication among neurons, called synapses, depend on substances called neurotransmitters that are assembled from the amino acids and other nutrients acquired in our diet. Healthy diets for the mother during pregnancy and her infant during these early years are critical to brain growth. This includes the demonstrated virtues of breast-feeding for at least six months, which not only passes on valuable nutrients and other positive factors in milk, but also provides the associated warmth of human contact.

Studies repeatedly show that children need positive human contact to fully develop social skills and language. As the jubilant cry emanating from a parent’s first appreciation of an intelligible sound or a returned smile provides a powerful reinforcement for more such interaction, the more complex motor, social and cognitive skills that come later need personal interaction to fully develop. For example, imaging studies reveal deficits in brain size and function in children reared in relative isolation.

Our sensory systems are not hard-wired at birth, and synapses among neurons develop throughout childhood as a function of the activity that prods them. Such brain plasticity allows children to learn any language at a young age, whereas it is much more difficult for an adult to learn a new one, having already established more permanent connections.

Much can be done for children costing little more than time. Expensive toys are not critical for good brain development when compared with simple positive human interaction — especially from a parent or caregiver. In this regard, The Urban Child Institute has been front and center in providing critical assistance and information to foster early childhood development. Focusing on the first three years of life, the institute supports frequent seminars and training sessions, and currently funds a longitudinal developmental study of Memphis children, entitled the “Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood” (CANDLE) study. This support is especially critical in a city with large health disparities, family incomes below the national average and a high percentage of single-parent homes. Memphis is also above national levels for risk factors for child development such as teen pregnancy and crime, as well as health factors such as obesity. These and other factors add stress to growing children, and stress can have cumulative, negative effects on brain function.

These and other data relevant to early childhood development and well-being, are presented in The Urban Child Institute’s Data Book 2013, available on their website. Here we can learn that there are positive trends for Memphis as well: declining rates of infant mortality and teen births; increasing rates of mothers with prenatal care and mothers who breast-feed. But perhaps the best news is that nothing is immutable, and our fates are not predetermined by demographics.

The brain, just as any muscle, is an instrument of change when properly exercised. Children who are raised in an economically impoverished environment can still overcome this disadvantage with effective parenting, care giving, stimulating education and proper nutrition. But such changes require effort and awareness on the part of adults. We cannot expect children to initiate the contact necessary to fully engage their brains. Time spent personally interacting with children (e.g. touching, talking, reading, playing) is the greatest gift an adult can provide.

The Neuroscience Institute at the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences has been a proud partner with The Urban Child Institute for over a decade, co-sponsoring a symposium each spring during Brain Awareness Week and contributing many scientists to the institute’s functions. In a new collaboration with the institute and the University of Memphis, a mobile interactive exhibit aimed at parents of young children is in development, which will use touch-screen access to reveal basic brain functions and how to develop them. We hope this small token of our great interest in children will reach those who haven’t the time or resources for more formal educational activities.

William E. Armstrong, Ph.D., is director of the Neuroscience Institute and a professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences.

This is one in a series of monthly guest columns on the importance of public/private investment in early childhood. For more information, call The Urban Child Institute at 901-385-4233 or visit tuci.org.